Dave Gullett

I just got back from Hillsboro, Ohio, where I attended the funeral of my cousin Zach.
He was killed while serving with the Army in Iraq.
Please pray for his Dad and Mom, Mike and Connie Gullett, both as they grieve and that this tragedy may lead them to follow Jesus. As fro Zach, he choose Christ sometime last fall, and is now with his Savior.

PFC Zachary R. Gullett, 20, serving in the 984th MP Company of Ft. Carson, Colorado, stationed in Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq, died Tuesday, May 1, 2007.

He was born July 3, 1986, in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Alan Michael and Connie (Helterbrand) Gullett I.

He was a 2004 graduate of Hillsboro High School, where he participated in marching band, drama, and symphonic choir. He was a member of the Military Police Regimental Association.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Clarence (Gene) Helterbrand, George and Betty Gullett, sister, April Lyn Gullett, uncles, Thomas Gullett, Gary Kimmel, and cousin, David Collins.

He is survived by his parents, Mike and Connie Gullett of Hillsboro, maternal grandmother, Eleanor Helterbrand of Hillsboro, brothers and sister-in-law, Benjamin Gullett of Hillsboro, Alan Michael and Tammy Gullett II of Beavercreek, niece, April Gullett, nephew, Alan Michael Gullett III, aunts and uncles, Linda and Jim Collins, Debbie Kimmel, Joette and Daryl Wilson, all of Miamisburg, Larry and Shelly Gullett of New Hampshire, Jeff and Shelby Gullett of Franklin Furnace; Debbie Gullett of Minford; Janet and Ledman Wright of Columbus; Judy and Jim Hedrick of Wheelersburg and many cousins and friends.

Funeral Services with full Military Rites will be held 11 a.m. Friday, May 11, at the Hillsboro Bible Baptist Church, located 8080 State Route 124, in Hillsboro. Friends may call Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. Burial will follow in the Hillsboro Cemetery. Services arranged by Thompson Funeral Home in Hillsboro

Family requests memorials to PFC Zachary R. Gullett Memorial Scholarship Trust, c/o Merchants National Bank, 100 North High Street, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133.

This past Saturday I was able to attend a one day conference on the church in Cleveland. Called “The Beautiful Mess” and hosted by Willoughby Friends Church, it featured Don Miller, Dan and Annika Ryan, and the Robbie Seay Band.

Don’s talks ranged over a wide range of topics, and he challenged a lot of my thinking and reinforced some of it as well.

Here’s a few of my favorite parts (disclaimer…remember this is what I heard, not necessarily what Don said):

There are two kind of thinkers in the world…those who ask the secondary questions, the “how?” questions and those that ask primary questions, the “why?” questions. Our culture is a “how?” culture, totally skipping the “why?”…we need the “why?”

The Bible answers questions that out culture totally ignores…it is our culture that is irrelevant.

Truth is never as exciting as a lie, it well set you free, but it will be a let down.

The primary cause of the disintegration of the American family was the Industrial Revolution. IT took men away from the home and began to shorten their lifespan.

We have gone so deep into our “community” that we look like idiots…we can’t be so insular in our community….we will become absurd.

We peddle religious techniques to a culture desiring “snake oil spirituality”

We have lost the Father metaphor in our culture…we can’t understand how God revealed Himself.

The family is the living metaphor for who God is.

The Bible is a book for people who do not know God.

We look at Romans as a contract..the transference of information.

We have separated truth from its meaningful context.

We leave Jesus out of the Gospel…we make it a series of ideas we memorize.

The point of the Scripture is narrative and art…to woo and to communicate…not to be a list.

We try to find the moral in a story only in the Scriptures.

Story teaches us good and bad, beautiful and ugly, by creating a map, a framework for us in our minds.

If you think that the Scriptures teach the pursuit of the American dream the you are raping and destroying a beautiful text.

Human history is God writing the story of human redemption.

Editorial tools that work in story work in life. Protagonist, antagonist, conflict and resolution.

In great stories you do not always have to win.

The messed up sinful story that God is writing for us is better than the story we write for ourselves.

If the protagonist of our story dies, what dreams die with them?

I need to want something Good. We need a better story.

While we may not agree with all (or any) of Don’s comments or writings, he is certainly being used to make us think about God and His Kingdom.

In case you haven’t heard, and it matters to you… “Krimson Hughey, 26, went home to be with her Lord Jesus Christ on March 6, 2007, at 4:20 pm in Riverside Hospital. Her passing was precipitated by an acute attack of her lifelong asthma condition. She is survived by both parents, Phil and Maureen Hughey, her grandmothers Bettie Burke and Connie Hughey, sister Kisha (Michael) Russell, Niece – Fionna Russell, Aunt/Uncles Barbie (Ken) Smith, Tony (Dianna) Hughey, & Kurt Hughey. Her family is greatly comforted by the fact that Krimson had placed her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for her eternal salvation many years ago. That faith has been exhibited throughout her adult life as she attended Bible school and has been involved with her church for many years. The celebration of Krimson’s life will be held this Saturday, March 10, 2007 at Evangel Temple located at 817 North Hamilton Road, Gahanna, OH. The family will be receiving guests starting at 10:00am with the memorial service starting at 11:00am. The kind friends of Krimson and her family are hosting a fellowship meal at the Church’s Family Life Center following the service. This notice will not appear in any publication so please pass this on to any who you believe may be interested. We are relying on email and word of mouth for this invitation to get to everyone who needs to see it.”

Life has slowed down.
Time to post something.
Finally.
About Indonesia
Or about jeeps.
Or coffee…

Then I got a phone call.
I burnt a lot of bridges,
changed jobs, left town,
or I would have heard sooner.
And I wouldn’t go back if I could.

Still

There is grief.
And guilt.
And loss.
What if I had fought?
What if I hadn’t walked away?
Would it have made a difference?
I was angry. Hurt. Whatever.
And now it doesn’t matter.

Its simply too late.